


Family Don't End in Blood

by mugglerock



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Dean is Bad at Feelings, Dean-Centric, Hunters & Hunting, Love Confessions, M/M, Season/Series 11 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-07-28 16:18:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7647952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mugglerock/pseuds/mugglerock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was supposed to be a run of the mill werewolf hunt. A quick, in and out, extermination of a wolf-pack of four in the most rural part of Montana. Claire, Castiel, Dean and Sam were totally capable of taking those scumbags out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family Don't End in Blood

**Author's Note:**

> I had this weird dream that just needed to be written, so that's what I did. Some season 11 spoilers, not many, and I kind of disregarded the finale, but not in any sort of substantial way.
> 
> I'd like to thank the lovely and wonderful [Anyrei](http://archiveofourown.org/users/anyrei/pseuds/anyrei) for being an awesome beta! Read everything she's written, you won't regret it! 
> 
> And on that note I hope you enjoy it!

**Family Don’t End In Blood**

 

It was supposed to be a run of the mill werewolf hunt. A quick, in and out, extermination of a wolf-pack of four in the most rural part of Montana. Claire, Castiel, Dean and Sam were totally capable of taking those scumbags out. It was Claire’s first werewolf hunt with them, but it was far from her first hunt.

 

Claire had lost interest in college and asked Jody to train her to be a full time hunter. It became too much for the Sheriff and since Claire was hell-bent on being a hunter, she wanted her to have the opportunity to truly learn what she needed to. Jody brought Claire to the bunker after coming to the realization that she needed to learn the ropes from the best. Initially all three men refused, but Sam was the first to listen to reason.

 

Claire moved in, almost a year ago. She was nineteen at the time and had a hell of an attitude, especially when it came to her feelings for Dean and Castiel. Not that either of them blamed her. 

Despite the fact that she had forgiven them when she was eighteen, she still appeared to struggle with having to live with them. Castiel was a constant reminder of everything she had lost. And Dean had murdered the only other man who had given her some semblance of a family after she lost her first one. Resentful was an understatement.

 

//SPN//

 

It wasn’t until her second month when the three of them took her on a real hunt. A salt and burn in Nebraska. The ghost of a woman who had attempted to drown her child in a bathtub of the motel her and her family were staying in while their house was being fumigated. The woman’s husband walked in on her holding their dead child beneath the lukewarm water. In a frenzied state, he snapped his wife’s neck before grabbing his handgun and blowing his brains out.

 

The wife was haunting that motel room, and every family that checked into the room, one of the females ended up slaughtering her family. As a cover, Castiel and Claire checked in as a father and daughter, while Sam and Dean grabbed the room next door. A couple of hours later, there was a crash and the sound of something breaking against the connecting wall of Sam and Dean’s room. They jumped to action and came barreling into the other room in enough time to see Castiel holding an angry Claire at bay against the wall.

 

“I think she’s being possessed by the spirit.” The angel stated calmly, matter-of-factly. Not as if there was an irate teenager hissing and spitting at him, her hand gripping an angel blade, twitching with a lust for blood.

 

Sam went to Claire to get the spirit out of her, Dean tended to Castiel, making sure his friend was physically unharmed. The rest of the hunt was relatively unremarkable until their drive home when Claire leaned against Castiel and slept for the duration of the journey. Dean locked eyes with Castiel through the rearview mirror. They shared a smile and the angel rubbed the sleeping teenager’s back.

 

//SPN//

 

Claire was getting better and better as time went by. Dean taught her how to shoot properly and the day she didn’t miss a single target, she wrapped her arms around the hunter and held onto him, whispering a soft, “Thanks.”

 

She would spend hours with Sam, researching lore and learning as much as she could about the supernatural world. Sam wouldn’t admit it, but he was grateful to have someone to share an in-depth interest with. Before they realized it, the four of them had become a family. Maybe not the ideal family, maybe not the family that Claire had wanted, but a family none the less.

 

After an encounter with a couple of angels that had left Castiel unconscious for a couple of days, the dynamic of the familial bond changed. Claire never really left his side. She watched over him, talked to him, and threatened him to wake up. When he finally did she screamed, spurring Dean and Sam to come running into the room. They found her and Castiel in a hug, he was whispering something to her and when she pulled away, wiping at a stray tear, her voice broke, “I love you, you asshole.” The three of them looked at each other, not really sure how to react. All Dean could think was, ‘why was it so easy for her to say those words?’

 

//SPN//

 

The night before the werewolf hunt, Dean and Castiel were sitting in the library in companionable silence. Claire and Sam were off doing something nerdy, Dean was certain. He placed his book down and looked to the angel. Castiel was immersed in whatever book he was reading.

 

“Are you able to feel love, Cas?”

 

The angel looked up, clearly surprised at such a strange question from out of the blue. He tilted his head, “I’m not sure I understand.”

 

Dean moved to the makeshift couch that Castiel was sitting on, and sat facing the angel as he continued, “Like, you know how Claire said she loved you? Do you feel love for her back?”

 

Castiel nodded, finally understanding the question, “I care for her deeply, I don’t know if it’s some residual concern and parental affection that remained with the vessel of her father, or if it’s the time we have spent as a family for the past year, but yes. I do love Claire. Why do you ask?”

 

Dean shrugged noncommittally, “I was just curious about, I guess, if you  _ could _ feel love, you know?”

 

“I see,” Castiel responded, his voice quiet, unable to meet Dean’s lingering stare. He returned his attention back to the book he was reading.

 

Dean took a deep breath. He wasn’t sure where the sudden surge of courage had come from, but he pressed on, “Do you love anyone else?”  _ Me? _ He added silently. So much for the courage.

 

Castiel closed his book and turned to face the hunter, “What do you mean?”

 

Dean shrugged, “You know, is there anyone else you feel love like that for.”

 

“No, not like that…” Castiel stated, shying away from Dean’s gaze again.

 

There was something unspoken there, Dean knew it. His heart started to beat a little faster. He took another deep breath before prodding a little further, “Do you feel love for someone in another way?”

 

“What…” Castiel eyed the hunter, appearing slightly hesitant and a little skeptical, “What are you trying to ask me, Dean?”

 

Dean didn’t know how to answer that question. They had been through so much in the past ten years. Ups and some seriously bad downs. A loss of trust, friendship, life. But through it all they always managed to find themselves gravitating back to the loyal friendship that carried them. Castiel had been his rock in so many ways, through some really fucked up shit. It took Dean those ten years to realize just what that meant to him. Why his weird bond with Amara had a hold on him, but never quite reached his heart. It was because his heart already belonged to another. To Castiel. But he couldn’t tell the angel that. What if he didn’t reciprocate Dean’s feelings, or worse yet, what if he did? Feelings were bad, feelings led to death, destruction, pain, and heartache. But as the years went by he realized that, short of consummating their relationship, Dean and Castiel were practically married.

 

He always felt relief and appreciation whenever he’d return to the bunker and found Castiel sitting in the kitchen watching television. The domestic moments they would share. Cooking together, getting dinner ready for everybody. Sitting in companionable silence like they were tonight, reading and just being present in each other’s presence. Dean had loved Castiel for a long time, but for some reason, it wasn’t until after he heard Claire say those words to the angel so casually, so easily, that he started to question himself. Question why he couldn’t say those words.

 

Dean was still at a loss for what to say, instead he moved forward, leaning over he pressed a gentle, breath of a kiss to Castiel’s lips. He pulled back and searched his friend’s eyes for comprehension, approval, anger, whatever feelings that kiss could have instilled in the angel.

 

Castiel blinked a few times, his brow quirked in confusion. “You kissed me.”

 

Dean laughed, a slightly choked and broken sound, but a laugh nonetheless. “I did,” He confirmed.

 

“Why?”

 

“Why do you think?” Dean returned, in only a  _ slightly _ petulant manner.

 

In that moment a lightbulb appeared to turn on inside of Castiel’s brain. He tilted his head, “You wish to know if I love you?”

 

Dean nodded, a slight and minute action, speaking volumes of the fear, dread, and terror he was feeling. He held his breath, unable to speak for fear of his voice cracking and making this moment all the more embarrassing.

 

Castiel let out an annoyed sounding sigh before answering his own question. “Dean, I’ve loved you for as long as I’ve known you. Granted that love started as something more platonic, more brotherly but…” He paused, seemingly unsure of how to proceed.

 

“But?” Dean prompted. Trying unsuccessfully to ignore the fluttering of hope in his chest.

 

“But that love turned into something different as the years have passed. Through everything we have been through together, you and I, we always come back to each other. I’m certain that the love I feel for you is what Anna was talking about when she chose to fall.”

 

Before Dean could react, respond, speak, or anything else, Castiel pressed forward and closed the distance between them. Dean grasped each side of the angel’s face and held on for dear life as they finally crossed the dangerous line they had been balancing on without a net. He poured all of the years of pent up frustration and desire he had been repressing into that kiss. When Castiel let out a soft gasp at the intensity of it all, Dean slipped his tongue into the angel’s mouth, a teasing tap as they finally tasted each other. He had to repress a groan, Castiel tasted like fresh baked pie. He wasn’t sure if that was an angel thing, he couldn’t remember Anna tasting like anything in particular. Perhaps it was the fact that he was in love.

 

When they pulled away from each other, foreheads pressed together, simultaneously attempting to catch their breath, Dean let out a relieved chuckle. He pulled away in order to look into Castiel’s eyes. He smiled, “Let’s get outta here.”

 

//SPN//

 

As Dean ducked behind a wall partition of an abandoned barn type building, he dug through his pockets to reload his gun. They fucked up. They had really fucked up. The four wolves had actually been fourteen and the dogs somehow knew they were coming for them. Claire had been able to take out two mutts, as had he and Sam, while Castiel had gotten five. Leaving only four mutts left, but they had run out of silver bullets. Dean handed his silver blade to Claire and told her to hide before they were all finally separated in pursuit of the last four werewolves.

 

After Dean had found one last silver bullet and shot the heart of the big fucker that had followed him into the barn, he made his way out to the clearing near Baby. Castiel and Sam were there waiting. Claire wasn’t. That was when they heard a bloodcurdling scream. Castiel instantly vanished and when he returned he was carrying the young girl in his arms, his face slack and his clothes drenched in her blood. Sam and Dean rushed to their aide.

 

“Heal her, Cas!” Dean cried.

 

“I can’t! My grace is too weak! Tell me what to do, please!” He had never heard his friend sound so panicked, so grief stricken.

 

Claire was covered in open and gushing wounds from being slashed by the monster. Unable to speak due to a deep wound on her neck, she made a horrific gurgling sound as the blood poured out.

 

Sam had ripped his shirt and tried to make a tourniquet to slow or stop the blood flow. “You’re gonna be fine,” He whispered to the dying teenager, his voice breaking.

 

Dean had to keep busy, this wasn’t happening, this couldn’t be happening. He opened the backseat door to Baby and helped Castiel slide her onto the seat. Sam got into the backseat with Claire and kept doing what he could to prevent further blood loss. Dean got behind the wheel and the second the door shut behind Castiel, they were off.

 

“Use the GPS to find the nearest hospital, Cas.”

 

The angel did as he was instructed, unable to speak other than giving Dean the directions to a hospital about seven miles from them.

 

Claire was still alive when they pulled up in front of the emergency room. Castiel and Sam tended to Claire as Dean darted into the ER waiting room and cried out, “Please! Our daughter has been attacked!” His panicked state and the blood covering his hands spurred the staff into action as a team of nurses and security darted outside with a gurney. They loaded her onto it carefully before rushing her to the back.

 

Castiel attempted to follow and one of the security officers halted him. “I’m sorry, sir. You’ve gotta let them help her. We’re going to find you a quiet room, but until then just wait here, okay?”

 

The angel nodded dumbly, but Dean saw red, his rage and panic overwhelming him. “She needs us! We’re her family!”

 

The officer extended his arm to halt whatever actions he was bound to take, “I understand, but you need to let the staff do what they can, they need to focus all of their attention on your daughter right now, okay?” His tone was calm, as though he had to give that speech on a daily basis.

 

Dean nodded and the officer guided the three men to a more secluded area of the waiting room until a quiet room became available. Castiel was staring off into space, his eyes unfocused and watery. Sam was fiddling with the piece of torn shirt, his eyes closed. Dean was certain he was praying. All Dean could think about was if he ever found the wolf that did this to Claire, he was going to make the bitch suffer. He would ring him up and torture him until he begged for death over and over. He used his need for revenge to harness his grief, his fear.

 

Dean looked at Castiel. The angel appeared to be stuck in a perpetual state of shock from the lack of response. Dean grabbed his hand and held it, giving periodic squeezes of comfort. Castiel finally looked down at their entwined hands, he glanced up and looked at Dean. The tears that had threatened to spill finally gave way and Dean used his free hand to wipe them away.

 

They were interrupted by a young Hispanic woman, in her early 20’s, with curly black hair wearing a blue pair of scrubs. “I’m sorry to disturb you…”

 

“Is she alright?” Dean interrupted.

 

The woman gave him a sad smile, “I don’t know yet, I’m a registrar, and I’m here to get her demographic information from you if that’s alright?”

 

Dean looked to Castiel, at the angel’s soft nod, she proceeded to ask some basic questions. “Her full name?”

 

At Castiel’s hesitation, Dean said, “Claire Kathryn Winchester.” The angel’s eyes widened in surprise as he looked at the hunter. Dean gave him a reassuring smile and squeezed his hand again.

 

“Are you her next of kin?” She directed the question to Dean.

 

He nodded, “We all are. She’s our daughter.”

 

At her bemused stare, Dean continued, “She’s his biological daughter, and we are together.” He tried to not look at his brother in that moment, this shouldn’t have been the place or time for Sam to find out about the shift in their relationship. But too often in these circumstances, short of being family you were not given any information in a hospital. They couldn’t take that risk and at that point, what Dean said wasn’t really a lie.

 

Shortly after they provided all of the information the registrar needed, they were led to a quiet room. Sam was pacing, whereas Dean and Castiel were sat on a small loveseat, still having never let go of each other’s hands. There was a sick part of him that hoped that it wasn’t too late, that maybe, just maybe, Claire would get turned and at the very least she’d be alive. She’d be a wolf, but she’d be alive and they could work together to find the one who turned her. And if they were unable to find the alpha of the bloodline, she could, at the very least, learn to live with it, like Garth had.

 

It felt like they had been cooped up in the tiny box for hours before finally a knock on the door was followed by the entrance of one of the ER doctors. She had a solemn look on her face.

 

“Mr. Winchester?” She inquired.

 

Dean and Castiel stood up together and approached the woman. The angel asked, “How is she?”

 

The doctor shook her head, “I’m so sorry, we did everything we could…”

 

Dean stopped listening to her explanation of the extent of Claire’s injuries and what all they had attempted to do to try and save her life. He was numb, angry and numb. It wasn’t fair, she was a fucking child. She didn’t deserve to die like that. Instantly his anger morphed into something akin to guilt. He should have stayed with her. He should have given her the gun. He should have gotten her out of there when they realized it was a trap. He should have never agreed to train her to hunt.  _ Fuck. _

 

His thoughts were broken by Castiel’s soft, “Thank you, doctor.” The angel’s voice cracked. He turned to Dean, “I never told her I loved her back. I never told her, Dean.” His blue eyes shimmered as they brimmed with tears, tears that slowly made their way down the defeated angel’s cheeks.  

 

Dean broke then. He grabbed onto Castiel and they stood there in each other’s embrace for what felt like forever.

 

//SPN//

 

The graveyard was peaceful, clouds darkened the sky and threatened rainfall, chilling the air. Dean watched Castiel in front of a simple headstone, bent down in a crouching position as he talked to the marble. The hunter left him be until he returned to a standing position. He approached Castiel and took his hand in his own.

 

They stood there staring down at the headstone, holding hands and in a state of contemplation. Their quiet reverie was interrupted by a, “I found them!”

 

Dean and Castiel turned around at the same time and were greeted by Sam and Claire walking up, triumphantly holding two bouquets of Amelia Novak’s favorite flowers. Dean watched as the young woman approached them and placed a gentle kiss on each of their cheeks before bending down to place the flowers in the interned vases of her mother’s grave.

 

Dean Winchester wasn’t one to believe in luck, or fate, or destiny, or whatever; but a part of him, in that moment, felt that he was exactly where he had needed to be. It had been four months since the werewolf hunt in which Claire had been momentarily lost to them. Castiel worked endlessly towards finding a way to bring her back without her turning into a werewolf, or causing apocalyptic or hell-bound exchanges. 

 

After three days, he had found a spell that would bring her back. Castiel would have to sacrifice his grace, he would have to fall. A sacrifice of an angel’s grace, wholly and for pure and just reasons would cleanse the recipient of any infections or impurities. This included monster infections and, ultimately, death. Castiel didn’t even have to think about it.

 

Dean had told him the night he performed the spell that he loved him. He finally said the words and right before Castiel sacrificed his grace, they shared a tender kiss.

 

Now, four months later, Dean still couldn’t quite believe they had won in such a magnificent way. He had a family, it was a little broken, but it was good, and his. He turned to his boyfriend, brother, and adopted daughter and smiled, “Let’s go home.”

**Author's Note:**

> So, my dream actually ended with Claire's death, because I love angst, but working on One Missed Text with Any has kind of turned me into a fluff monster, damnit!


End file.
